News Articles

• International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment says it hosts a “little peaceful Speak Out Against Psychiatric Dosing” event in Kesey Square 1:30 pm Friday, Nov. 4. Organizer David Oaks says, “After speakers and an open mic, we will march together to the office of Rep. Pete DeFazio, to object to his co-sponsorship of a bill that would increase outpatient coercion in mental health.” Free.

As a Native American activist testified against a proposed gravel mine in Oakridge at an Oct. 12 Lane County Board of Commissioners meeting, a plainclothes law enforcement officer walked up, took her by the wrists and began placing her arms behind her back.

Commission Vice Chair Pat Farr, who stopped the officer, later called the incident a learning experience in terms of cultural sensitivity and discrimination.

The University of Oregon Foundation is planning a new building for scientific research, but in the process, its plans may destroy a nearby restaurant, Evergreen Indian Cuisine.

The UO’s newly announced billion-dollar project, the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, is billing itself as a great opportunity for undergrads to work in labs with professors and post-docs. The project will be funded primarily by a $500 million donation by Phil Knight and matched donor money.

“Sex work is work, sex workers are people and no person is ever more safe when you eliminate their work options,” says Lia, a local activist and sex worker. Lia and fellow sex worker and activist Vera are putting on a rally Oct. 28 in downtown Eugene to “Protest the Raid on Backpage.”

• On Oct. 28 there will be a free TEDTalk, TEDxVenetaWomen, from 8 am to 2 pm at the Applegate Regional Theater. The free event will include nine live talks by local women, interspersed with previously recorded TEDTalks from TEDWomen 2016, held the previous day in San Francisco, with which it is affiliated, according to Jennifer Chambers, a local organizer for the event.

It’s a thought that crosses the mind of Eugene School District 4J parent Constance Van Flandern when she drops her kids off at school.

“Nobody wants to talk about children dying,” Van Flandern notes, but with a massive earthquake predicted to hit Oregon, she says the time has come to have a community conversation about the earthquake resilience of Eugene’s schools.

• Ward 1 Eugene City Council candidate Emily Semple’s campaign has GOTV (get out the vote) activities planned for the next two weeks. Learn more about Semple’s grassroots movement and how to help her maintain the progressive seat that has been held by George Brown. Contact Campaign Manager Kristen Brandt at 541-515-2102 or emilysemple.com for locations and further information.

Known for his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, as well as for his long, patient interview with a Fox News reporter who could not understand how a Muslim could write a book about Jesus, Aslan comes to the University of Oregon Oct. 18 to present “An Evening with Reza Aslan: Religion, Identity and the Future of America.”

With EWEB talking about selling off its riverfront headquarters and City Hall in flux, many wonder why Eugene City Council continues to steer the conversation away from EWEB.

Things started to go sideways again for the tangled City Hall project this summer when construction bids came in $10 million higher than expected, sending the city back to the drawing board to determine where best to put its new building and what exactly it should look like. More complications arose as the city tried wangling some portion of the 8th and Oak “butterfly lot” from the county.

Weyerhaeuser Company, 746-2511, plans to aerially apply urea fertilizer to 684.1 acres south of Vida and the McKenzie River near West Fork Deer Creek and tributaries and to East Fork Deer Creek tributaries. See ODF notification 2016-771-11891, call Brian Dally at 541-726-3588 with questions.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) fined Dorena Hydro $11,400 Sept. 26 for various Clean Water Act violations associated with reduced dissolved oxygen levels in the Row River caused by the operation of Dorena Dam Hydroelectric Project. The violations occurred in April, when the Row River is designated as an active salmon and steelhead spawning area.

• The David Minor Theater celebrates its 8th anniversary with a special viewing event “Beer and Beyond” 6:45 pm and 9:15 pm Saturday, Oct 22. The theater says, “An evening of celebrations including discounted movie tickets and a special back-to-back screening of the new Star Trek Beyond epic are planned.” Tickets are $4. For more info, go to davidminortheater.com.

• How do we keep public spaces like the Park Blocks and Kesey Square active, vital places where everyone wants to be any day of the year? The city of Eugene has started a Places for People project, in partnership with Project for Public Spaces, and will be asking the community for input at upcoming events and workshops in October. Events include: “Transforming Public Spaces: Talk and Open House with Fred Kent,” 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 13, at the LCC Downtown Campus. At 10 am Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Atrium Lobby, 99 W.

Standing on the sidewalk, you look up in the sky and see a curious crosshatching of straight white streaks. These are airplane contrails — clouds formed when water vapor condenses and freezes around small particles that exist in aircraft exhaust, according to NASA.

Eugene Public Works maintenance worker Matt Chaney shows me his smartphone. The small screen displays a special email account where he gets notes from concerned Eugeneans who report new outcroppings of graffiti with the Lane Council of Governments online reporting center.

Many of those participating in a Stop Hate! rally in Springfield Sept. 29 were greeted by a loudspeaker blaring from the roof of the home of well-known racist and anti-Semite Jimmy Marr. Marr was blasting a speech proclaiming the wonders of hate. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in the second degree.

• Mia Moran, the international bestselling author of Plan Simple Meals gives a talk 6:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Eugene Waldorf School, 1350 McLean Blvd. The school says, “Moran will help simplify and demystify what ‘good food’ means today. She will share some gems of how to create the space to make good food and even the time to eat it. She will share several tools working with a regular rhythm to make mealtimes manageable at home — tools that work with middle school aged children too.” $10 suggested donation.